Community View: We can all take action to reduce gun violence

Mar. 23, 2013

A green and white ribbon, the colors of Sandy Hook Elememtary School in Newtown, Conn., is seen on the uniform of a Newtown High School Marching Band member after marching in the St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 16 in New York. / Tina Fineberg/AP

Written by

Gina Daschbach

Jimmy Greene kisses his wife, Nelba Marquez-Greene, on Jan. 14 as he holds a portrait of their daughter, Sandy Hook School shooting victim Ana Marquez-Greene, during a news conference at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown, Conn. / Jessica Hill/AP

AFTER NEWTOWN

The Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., launched Americans into a search for solutions to gun violence. We're documenting the local and national discussion on gun control, mental health and school violence at http:// lohud.com/afternewtown. Join the conversation by using #AfterNewtown on Twitter.

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On March 14, my daughter, a kindergartner, took part in the school’s annual dance festival. The event had family and faculty cheering as our town’s youngest students performed dance routines they had been practicing for weeks. It was deliriously joyful from the bleachers to the gymnasium floor. When the kindergartners’ show was over, we stayed to watch the first-graders. The gym was filled once again with laughing, twirling children, just slightly taller and a bit older looking than the previous group. The students lined up across the floor. There were 10 or so rows, each with about 20 first-graders. Twenty first-graders.

All at once, it struck me so deeply that our dance festival was being held on the three-month anniversary of the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, and that we were being given a clear visual of what 20 first-graders looked like. I felt the air getting sucked out of the room, out of me. The kids were dancing a crazed version of the Macarena as I began to count out 20 first-graders, row by row. Then I imagined one row missing; there one minute, gone the next. I pushed away the more horrific images of how the Sandy Hook children truly perished. I imagined our own first-graders with their boundless energy and endless potential, wiped away forever. I looked blurry-eyed into the stands and imagined parents and families consoling one another; just as I imagine those Newtown parents did on Dec. 14 and have done each day since. I looked to another row. They were onto the “Hand Jive” now and were a little less frenetic. It was easier to count. Eighteen, 19, 20. I looked carefully at how much space they filled in the world, studied the randomness of the boy/girl ratio in each line. Sandy Hook lost eight little boys and 12 little girls. I inventoried everything I could about these spirited first-graders in front of me — sports jerseys, pink headbands, superhero T-shirts, jeggings, sequined sneakers, track pants, bouncing ponytails, gap-toothed giggling smiles … pure, youthful innocence.

On that very night, while the first-graders wrapped up with the “Cha Cha Slide,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow was broadcasting new details about the Newtown shootings. The killer fired 152 bullets in less than 5 minutes, killing 20 children and six educators. He used an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle with 30-round magazines. He only needed to reload his weapon four times. “Had he only had access to 10-round magazines instead of 30-round magazines he would’ve had to reload 14 times,” reported Maddow. “He would’ve needed 14 spare magazines beyond the one in the gun and the round in the chamber. ”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s original assault weapons ban was in effect from 1994 to 2004; until Congress allowed it to expire. Under that law, both the AR-15 and 30-round magazines, which the murderer stole from his mother, were banned. Even knowing this, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has broken off the assault weapons ban from an otherwise comprehensive gun violence prevention bill heading for a vote next month. Congress continues to let a vocal minority of lobbyists controlled and funded by the gun industry dictate law making on gun issues.

An assault weapons ban with a 10-round magazine limit will help reduce the mass carnage of events like Sandy Hook and it deserves a vote. This is our time to act. After Newtown, I joined Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (momsdemandaction.org), a group formed overnight in the wake of the tragedy. They are making strides and their agenda is getting noticed in Washington. More importantly, they are providing immeasurable guidance to “accidental” activists like myself. Among other things, on a local level, I started an online petition http://signon.org/sign/rockland-county-legislature urging the Rockland Legislature to show support for the SAFE Act which became law in January. Recently the legislators passed a disappointing resolution to repeal the stricter gun laws. This petition counters that sentiment.

If you too feel that common sense is needed to protect our children from gun violence, find a way to be heard. There are a host of things you can do right from your sofa. Make a phone call. Write a letter. Legislators want to hear from you. Remembering the children of Sandy Hook is good. Taking action is better.

The writer, a Piermont resident and stay-at-home mom, advocates for public safety via @GinaPiermont on Twitter and is the co-leader of the Moms Demand Action (http://momsdemandaction.org) Hudson Valley chapter.